Stencil holding hand stamp



0d. 9, 1956 M S 2,765,737

STENCIL HOLDING HAND STAMP Filed June 10, 1954 IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent M STENCIL HOLDING HAND STAMP James R. Thomas, Deerfield, IlL, assignor to Joseph A. Weber, Mount Prospect, Ill.

Application June 10, 1954, Serial No. 435,721

4 Claims. (Cl. 101125) This invention relates to a new and improved stencil holding hand stamp.

The hand stamp of the present application is an improvement over previous hand stamps which I have developed as shown in Patent No. 2,667,119 and also as shown in my co-pending patent application entitled Hand Stamping Stencil Holder, having Serial No. 403,101.

Hand stamping stencil holders have been used for many years and it still remains a prime object or at least one of the prime objects of this invention to provide means for clamping and/or centering a stencil to the holder.

A principal object of the present invention is to equip a hand stamping stencil holder with simple, eflicient and economical means for clamping a stencil onto a hand stamping holder.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a hinged locking member which is adapted to simultaneously spread the stencil over the surface of the hand stamp and lock the stencil in position on the hand printer.

Still another important object of this invention is the provision of a hinged wire frame member which is adapted to flank the lateral edges of a stencil and having cooperative lock means on the wire frame and the stamp holder in order to positively maintain the stencil centered in position on the stamp holder.

Another and still further important object of this invention is to equip a hand stamping stencil holder with a substantially rectangularly shaped wire frame hinged at one end and adapted for snap lock engagement and/ or disengagement at the other end.

Other and further important objects and advantages will become apparent from the disclosures in the following specification and accompanying drawings.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the hand stamping stencil holder of this invention and having the wire frame stencil clamp incorporated therein.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the device of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is one end view of the hand stamp.

Figure 4 is the other end view of the hand stamp.

Figure 5 is a sectional view, taken on a line 55 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a bottom plan view of the hand printer of this invention similar to Figure 2, but having the stencil holding frame hinged outwardly.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view of a portion of a bottom plan view of a hand printer showing a modified shaping of the wire clamp stencil holder to provide hand engaging means for easily releasing and/or fastening of the wire clamp to the hand stamp.

As shown in the drawings:

The reference numeral 10 indicates generally a channel shaped cover or frame member. A handle 11 and a main stamp supporting frame 12 are respectively positioned over and within the channel cover member 10. The main stamp supporting frame 12 includes a rectangularly 2,765,737 Patented Oct. 9, 1956 shaped ink reservoir 13 extending substantially the length of the hand printer of this invention. The reservoir has a perforate bottom 14 through which ink may flow to the stamp. The main frame 12 also is equipped with upwardly and outwardly bent spaced apart side flanges 15 and 16. These flanges, which may be called angle in the ink reservoir.

flanges, extend the length of the hand printer and tern1inate at their upper edge along each inner edge of the channel shaped cover 10. Additionally, the main stamp supporting frame 12 has end extensions of the side walls of the ink reservoir 14 designated 17 and 18 at one end thereof and as 19 and 20 at the other end thereof.

A soft porous pressure pad 21 is adapted to fit over the lower perforate bottom 14 of the ink reservoir 13 to receive ink therefrom. This cloth covered pad has its lateral side edges terminating in V-shaped angular metal members 22 and 23 which have sliding engagement with the top edges of the angle flanges 15 and 16 in order to hold the soft pressure pad centered over the perforate bottom of the ink reservoir.

As best shown in Figure 5, the ink reservoir has a threaded opening 24 in the top thereof which is surrounded on its top by a cork gasket 25. The channel shaped cover 10 is provided with an opening 26 in the top center thereof which is aligned with the opening 24 A cork gasket 27 is adapted to be placed around the opening 26 on the top of the cover member 10 and thus seal against the escapement of ink therefrom. The handle 11 is provided with a downwardly extending externally threaded stud 28 which is adapted to pass through the opening 26 in the cover 10 and threadedly engage the opening 24 in the ink reservoir. This threaded engagement is for the purpose of holding the entire assembly together as a unit. It will thus be apparent that this assembly of the hand printer may be accomplished merely by removing the handle 11 and thereupon all of the parts will separate one from the other.

The threaded stud 28 of the handle 11 is provided with a central bore 29 which extends up into the handle to provide an expansion chamber for ink Within the reservoir 13 whenever an impression is made with the hand printer and there is a tendency for ink to back up into the reservoir and if necessary up into the hollow portion of the handle 11.

Primarily, the hand printer of this invention is to function with a stencil which is shown at 30. The stencil is a thin sheet of material which may be cut by a typewriter or the like whereupon ink is permitted to pass through the cut portions of the stencil. Thus, when a stencil is placed over the ink receiving soft pressure pad 21 and an operator presses downwardly on the hand printer ink will flow through the cut portion of the stencil and thus reproduce whatever is cut on the stencil. As stated in the objects above, it is a prime object of this invention to provide means for maintaining the stencil in spread position over the inked pad 21 and to maintain the stencil centered thereon.

A wire frame which is rectangularly shaped is shown at 31 and is adapted to hold the stencil centered on the pressure pad 21. As best shown in Figures 1 and 2, the wire frame 31 has endings which are turned inwardly and thence outwardly as shown at 32 and 33, each of which is adapted to engage openings 34 and 35 respectively in the extensions 17 and 18. This constitutes a hinge for the rectangular wire frame 31 so that its long sides may swing about the short end at the hinges at that end of the hand printer. The outwardly swing wire frame is clearly shown in Figure 6. At the other end of the hand printer there is provided lateral aligned notches 36 and 37 in the side extensions 19 and 20 of the ink reservoir. These notches are adapted to receive an end 38 of the rectangularly shaped wire frame 31.

The extensions 19 and 20 are equipped with upwardly sloping surfaces 39 and 40 respectively to permit the end 38 of the wire frame 31 to slide upwardly and snap into the notches 35 and 36. This wire and 38 engaging the notches 35 and 36 constitutes a latch for the wire frame. The rectangular wire frame 31 has long wire slides 41 and 42 which are adapted to flank and spread the stencil 34) in its position over the soft pressure pad 21.

In the operation of the device of this invention ink is initially supplied to the reservoir 13 through the opening in the top thereof and thereafter the device is assembled by replacing or rescrewing the handle onto the reservoir with the channel cover therebetween. As the handle is drawn up tightly the device is made an integral unit with the gaskets 25 and 27 providing the sealing means necessary between the several parts so that there shall be no unwarranted escape of ink. After a stencil has been cut, it is put down on a flat surface and the operator engages it with the soft porous inked pressure pad 21 of the hand printer at a time when the wire frame 31 is hinged outwardly as shown in Figure 6. The adhesion of the ink picks up the stencil 30 and the wire frame 31 is then hinged and swung back into position over the hand printer in such a manner that the long wire sides 41 and 42 of the frame press downwardly and some what outwardly along the lateral edges of the stencil tending to spread the stencil evenly over the ink pad. The end 38 of the wire frame is snapped up into the notches 35 and 36 as shown in the position of the hand printer of Figures 1, 2 and 4. The particular bending of the hinged ends of the wire frame 31 and the inclined surfaces 39 and 40 of the latch ends of the stamp cause a springing of the Wire frame when it is moved into latched position and this insures a fixed centering of the stencil onto the hand printer and a secure gripping of the stencil on the hand printer during entire use of that stencil. In the condition of the hand printer with the stencil firmly locked onto the printer any number of impressions may be made without any shifting or loosening of the stencil. It should be apparent that the stencils are easily removable and other stencils may be inserted merely by unlatching the wire frame and swinging it backwardly to the position as shown in Figure 6 whereupon a new stencil may be applied to the stamp and locked thereon in the same manner as just described.

In the modification of the device as shown in Figure 7 a hand engaging loop or handle 43 is formed in the latching end 38 of the wire frame. This is merely to facilitate easy engagement of the latchingendof'thewire frame by the operator in order to quickly latch or unlatch the wire frame as desired.

Numerous details of construction may be varied throughout a wide range without departing from the principles disclosed herein and I, therefore, do not propose limiting the patents grahtedhereon otherwise than as necessitated by the appended claims;

What is claimed is:

l. A hand printer for stencils comprising a main supporting frame, an ink reservoir formed integrally with the main supporting frame, upwardly and outwardly angled side flanges forming a part of said main supporting frame, a perforate bottom for said ink reservoir, a pressure pad terminating in V-shaped angle members at the lateral edges thereof for sliding engagement on the top surfaces of the angled flanges of the main supporting frames, a channel shaped cover member positioned over the top side of said main supporting frame and shielding the engagement of the angled side edges of the pressure pad on the angled flanges of the supporting frame, handle means on the top side of the cover member and having screw extension means passing through the cover and threadedly engaging the main supporting frame, and means for holding a stencil to said pressure pad.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which the means for holding the stencil to the pressure pad comprises a rectangular wire frame the long sides of which are adapted to press against the lateral side edges of the stencil on the pressure pad.

3. A device as set forth in claim 2 in which the wire frame is hinged at one end of the hand printer and is removably latched at the other end of the hand printer.

4. A device as set forth in claim 3 in which a hand engaging member is provided on the wire frame at the latching end thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,215,788 Fales Feb. 13, 1917 t,610,117 Black Dec. 7, 1926 1,782,877 Madden Nov. 25, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS 424,064 Great Britain Feb. 14, 1935 

